Non destructive solution??

[Erichalfbee]

I read of a method of removal many years ago, intended for removal from inaccessible places like cavity walls, which I haven't seen mentioned on here in any of the removal threads I've read.
It involves building a small shelf very close to the entrance they are using, the entrance is then covered with a very long cone of mesh with a hole in the tip - this means the bees can exit but struggle to enter. A hive containing a small colony is then placed on the shelf. Unwanted bees are unable to enter their old home and end up entering the hive. Over a few weeks the unwanted colony is weakened to the point of dying, and the (now strengthened) hive is removed.
The dead colony can now be sealed up. Once it's certain the colony is dead it can be left open (maybe with some honey smeared nearby) to encourage local bees to rob out any remaining stores (to avoid damage from leaking honey). Finally cover the entrance with mesh small enough to prevent bee access but to allow waxmoth to destroy the combs.
Obviously this requires a friendly beekeeper (who gets a strengthened colony out of it), and some patience.
I've not tried this in practice, read it ages ago, but it sounds like it would work.

A trap out.
The queen and the few bees protecting her are left to die.

 

[Earthboy]

A trap out.
The queen and the few bees protecting her are left to die.

A trap out takes weeks and will leave wax and honey residue (even if the new colony you have brought robs out the colony in the cavity), inviting the next swarm through other unprotected cracks along the roof--even after sealing off the current nest location with expanding foam insulation, which I invariably recommend after the cutout.

Do nothing will the option for being least destructive for the bees and the structural integrity of the roof.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A trap out takes weeks and will leave wax and honey residue (even if the new colony you have brought robs out the colony in the cavity), inviting the next swarm through other unprotected cracks along the roof--even after sealing off the current nest location with expanding foam insulation, which I invariably recommend after the cutout.

Do nothing will the option for being least destructive for the bees and the structural integrity of the roof.

I was simply telling sutty what the method he outlined was called.
The OP has a list of contacts and is getting some quotes.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And houses in the UK, apart from the last few years, by and large are built from bricks, not balsa wood